But a snap survey showed that
demand for notes and coins had"dramatically
increased".

Small banks and building
societies were the most affected, with somereportedly running out of
cash.

Fears of fresh stayaways today,
triggered huge-sum withdrawals aspeople sought to catch up on lost shopping
time and other month-end jaunts,disrupted by last week's ZCTU-organised work
stoppages.

Panic was the order of the day
as word filtered - right throughweekend - that the MDC was to call its own
strike this week.

Long queues started
forming at banks, building societies and ATMcash-points early
yesterday.

Tellers at a building society
in Harare's First Street Mall said theyhad received daily allocations of
money late as anxious customers queued forup to two
hours.

Beverly Building Society (BBS)'s
First Street branch starteddispensing cash late yesterday, according to
insiders.

"We have been waiting for our
daily orders from the Central Bank,"said one teller around 4pm yesterday as
he started serving clients.

"But I am told
the amount is less than what we had asked for," hesaid, adding that they
would only feed ATMs when satisfied that the problemwould not persist or
recur today.

Philip Chiradza, the BBS
managing director, was not immediatelyavailable for
comment.

At a cash dispenser outside
Kingdom Bank First Street, people saidthey had endured more than one hour of
queueing.

"I have been in the queue for
more than an hour and am still waitingfor my turn. But the queue is moving,"
said Chris Rugare at Kingdom Bank.

A
Mabvuku businessman who declined to be named lamented
theinconvenience.

"I came here
thinking that I would be done within an hour. My businesshas been disrupted.
I am disappointed," he said.

It was the
same in Bulawayo.

Cash shortages surfaced
about two weeks ago as demand
outstrippedsupply.

Steep escalation of
prices of goods and rampant inflation at 228percent, has rendered the
Zimbabwean dollar almost valueless, creating hugedemand for
cash.

Speculation was rife that Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe authorities had cutsupplies of large denomination-notes to
stem currency trading, especially inBritish pounds, South African rands and
United States dollars.

Money supply grew
to $632 billion as of last December, while $348,5billion worth of cash
circulated in the country in the same
month.

The December M3 standing represents
a 165 percent change from thecorresponding figure of
2001.

According to an analyst, the recent
shortages at mortgage banks couldbe explained by the fact that bankers were
out of cash. Building societiesare not clearing houses and do not access
cash from the Central Bankdirectly.

"Retail banks act on their behalf, but given the current scenariowhere the
Central Bank has imposed tougher conditions of borrowing forfinancial
institutions, shortages are likely to be experienced," said
theanalyst.

The Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe has increased lending rates to 80percent - way above the repo rate
- for institutions without security.

THE Zimbabwe National Students'
Union (Zinasu) yesterday condemned thepreferential enrolment of national
youth service graduates into Statecolleges and
universities.

The union said the move
caused divisions among students. EmmanuelSamundombe, Zinasu's
secretary-general, said the government was deliberatelytrying to weaken
student activism by enrolling only Zanu PF supporters ininstitutions of
higher learning.

Samundombe claimed that
the newly established Zimbabwe Congress ofStudent Unions (Zicosu) was part
of the government's efforts to destroyZinasu. The government is said to view
Zinasu as an appendage of
oppositionpolitics.

He said: "We have
widely condemned the partisan enrolment of theseGreen Bombers into our
colleges and universities. It has destroyed the ideaof meritocracy as a key
requirement to enrol at college. The system gavepolitical spies a chance to
get an education at the expense of deserving andrightful
citizens."

Samundombe said Zicosu was a
creation of the government and could notfully represent the interests of
students.

The Zicosu leadership claimed
that students could not be representedby one union, hence the decision to
form another one. They also accusedZinasu of being affiliated to the MDC and
the National ConstitutionalAssembly.

SOME residents of Sakubva and
Dangamvura in Mutare yesterdaycomplained that they were beaten up by people
in army uniforms theysuspected to be soldiers, who accused them of
participating in a three-dayjob stayaway organised by the ZCTU last
week.

The residents said the soldiers
targeted those who were drinking beerat bottle stores and beer
halls.

Edward Mupingo of Dangamvura said
six men in army uniforms came to theDangamvura Tavern last Thursday and
ordered everyone in the beerhall to siton the
floor.

"The soldiers ordered all the
people in the bar , who were about 15,to sit on the floor," Mupingo
said.

Richard Gwenzi, another Dangamvura
resident, said he was forced topour the beer on the ground and to roll on
the mud.

"When I indicated that I could
not swim in the beer one of them beatme on the head with the butt of the gun
he had," Gwenzi said.

Edgar Nhamo, also
from Dangamvura, said: "One patron who had notrealised the presence of the
soldiers came in singing and was made to singthe national anthem, which he
could not."

He said the man was beaten
until he fell unconscious and was in thatstate until the soldiers left
approximately 10 minutes later.

Wilson
Chaguma of Sakubva said the suspected soldiers pounced on themwhile playing
a game of cards and accused them of holding an
illegalmeeting.

"We were about 10 and
playing cards when the soldiers accused us ofholding a meeting during the
stayaway. They made us swim in a pond of muddywater before setting us free,"
Chaguma said.

Chaguma said the suspected
soldiers told them they were in charge andnothing would happen to
them.

There was no immediate comment from
the army as one Lieutenant Gora,of the army public relations at the 3
Brigade Chikanga Army Barracks, wassaid to be out of his
office.

VISITING South African Members of
Parliament yesterday heard fromvarious interest groups in Zimbabwe that the
land reform programme, althoughwidely accepted, was heavily politicised and
corrupted by governmentofficials.

But
Zanu PF MPs and traditional leaders disputed the allegations,saying the
programme was going on well.

Roy Bennet,
the MP for Chimanimani (MDC), said the government'sone-man one-farm policy
had been grossly abused by senior governmentofficials who had acquired more
than three farms each.

The South African
MPs are in the country to gather evidence from theirZimbabwean counterparts
in the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands,Agriculture, Water
Development, Rural Resources and Resettlement on how thegovernment's land
reform programme is progressing.

Neo
Masitela, the chairman of the South African ParliamentaryPortfolio Committee
on Agriculture and Land Affairs, said they were herebecause there was a
Communal Rights Bill before their parliament, and theywould wanted to gather
as many views as possible from Zimbabwe.

Daniel Mackenzie-Ncube, the chairman of the Zimbabwean committee andZhombe
MP (Zanu PF), said the delegation was on a fact-finding mission onthe land
reform exercise.

"There is some land
reform in South Africa which others say is tooslow," he said. "Whatever
happens in Zimbabwe affects them politically andeconomically, and they want
to learn from our experiences based onfirst-hand
information."

He said the major concern to
the South Africans was Zimbabwe's landpolicy and how it was being
implemented.

The land reforms had left
thousands of farm workers displaced andnearly 12 farmers dead. He said the
delegation would tomorrow visit A1 andA2 farms in the Midlands and
Mashonaland West provinces.

Andries Botha,
a Democratic Alliance MP, in an interview said:"Interest groups and other
MPs said the land reform programme was chaotic.They said it had a severe
impact on food production. A lot of people hadbeen displaced causing rising
unemployment, which had a negative impact onthe performance of the
economy."

TWO trade union rallies have been
scheduled in Harare to commemoratethis year's May Day on Thursday in what
could be a test of popularity forthe country's two major labour bodies, the
ZCTU and the Zanu PF-alignedZimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions
(ZFTU).

Wellington Chibhebhe, the ZCTU
secretary-general, yesterday said thelabour body would commemorate Workers'
Day despite the deterioratingeconomic and political
situation.

"Preparations are in full swing
and we will still have the normalcelebrations at Rufaro Stadium," Chibhebhe
said. "We know things are verybad for workers and we understand their
position, but all the same we mustall understand the history of this
day."

This year's commemoration comes at a
time when the majority of workersare reeling under worsening poverty with
most families living below thepoverty datum
line.

"It is our day and we must
commemorate it and at the same timeremember those workers who were
protesting against the long working hoursand fought for the workers'
rights," Chibhebhe said.

He said apart
from the Rufaro Stadium rally, there would be othergatherings in various
centres countrywide.

However, Chibhebhe
said he could not give more details on thecelebrations for what he termed
security reasons.

Joseph Chinotimba, the
vice-president of the ZFTU, yesterday said inHarare, celebrations would be
held at Gwanzura Stadium.

"We want to
teach workers that stayaways are useless and aremeaningless. We will teach
them how to claim their dues and not fight withthe government," Chinotimba
said.

But Chinotimba could not explain how
his organisation could assist thegovernment to revive the ailing economy and
improve the workers' conditionsof
service.

"We will have a $1,7 million May
Day Cup soccer match in which Dynamosand
Black Rhinos will lock horns," Chinotimba
said.

"We will also have 20 cattle to
slaughter so that people can havesomething to eat as they enjoy
themselves."

Last week, the ZCTU organised
a three-day stayaway against the massiverise in fuel prices. It has
threatened to continue with the protests untilits grievances are addressed
by the government.

With the recent fuel
price increases of up to 350 percent, there arefears that most low-income
earners, will spend as much as 80 percent oftheir earnings on transport
alone.

Confrontation is already looming
between the State and the ZCTU afterthe labour body rejected and dismissed
as meaningless the new minimummonthly wages announced by the government last
week.

Agricultural workers are to be paid
a minimum of $23 070 a month,employees in the agro-industry and horticulture
sectors $42 168, and thosein industry and commerce $47
696.

The ZCTU said it stood by its
assessment that $125 000 was therealistic poverty datum
line.

ABOUT 500 students at Zimbabwe
Distance Education College (ZDECO)failed to attend lectures yesterday after
the institution's managingdirector, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, dismissed 32
teachers following a sit-inover poor
salaries.

Ndlovu is a member of Zanu PF's
politburo, the party decision
makingorgan.

Immediately after he
fired the teachers, Ndlovu paid them between $8000 and $20 000 as exit
packages - amounts which are far below their monthlysalaries of up to $35
000.Those dismissed include full and part-time
staff.

Ndlovu could not be reached for
comment yesterday.

Students could be seen
loitering around the premises yesterday .

Two weeks ago, the teachers issued an ultimatum which expired lastTuesday,
to the institution's directors to award them a 500 percent
salaryincrement.

They argued that
their salaries had been eroded by the recent steeprises in the price of
fuel.

A dismissal letter shown to The
Daily News by one of the teachersreads in part: "With reference to your
ultimatum to the directors to awardyou a 500 percent salary increment
without negotiation and your boycott oflecturers on 16, 17 and 22 April,
2003, up to now, the directors haveconcluded that you no longer want your
job.

"Many students who registered for
holiday classes have been leftstranded and others
resigned.

"You have engaged in an illegal
strike. The directors have thereforedecided to dismiss you with immediate
effect."

They were denied
bail when they first appeared before Chivhunga on 8April, when the police
said that they needed time to check records forprevious
convictions.

In their written submissions
to the court opposing bail, the policesaid the group was facing serious
allegations.

As a result, it was likely
that the gang would interfere with Statewitnesses,the police
said.

Prosecutor, Ngoni Sivereki, said the
10, who confessed to being ZanuPF activists, went to Shawasha flats in
Mbare.

There they ordered the 11 tenants
of the block to vacate the flatsbecause they were
"sell-outs."

She said the tenants defied
the orders and the group, acting in commonpurpose, forcibly removed the
tenants' property and heaped it outside
theblock.

They then force-marched the
complainants to an open space outside theflats where they ordered them to
sit next to their heaped belongings, theState
alleges.

The group allegedly assaulted the
tenants using various weapons whichincluded sticks, iron bars and stones
fired from catapults.

Throughout the
night, the vigilantes allegedly held the tenants incaptivity until 6am when
the police were alerted of the situation by one ofthe tenants who had
escaped.

Meanwhile, in anticipation that
their colleagues could be grantedbail, the other Chipangano members, who
have not yet been netted, last weekforced vendors at Mbare's Mupedzanhamo
and Siya-So markets to pay $300 eachto raise funds for bail for their
counterparts who are languishing in
remandprison.

An MDC official who
preferred anonymity, yesterday said he had beenapproached by several vendors
who expressed dismay over Chipangano's terrornetwork in
Mbare.

"This should be strongly condemned
because we cannot have a situationwhere people continuously live in
fear.

"Residents are flocking to my house
seeking protection, but there isnothing I can do about it because I am also
a victim," he said.

Last month, Chipangano
members force-marched commuters, Mbareresidents and commandeered vehicles to
ferry people to demonstrate againstHarare Executive Mayor, Elias Mudzuri at
Town House.

A FIVE-MEMBER delegation from the
Munich City Council in Germanyarrived in Harare yesterday on a week's
visit.

Harare has a twinning arrangement
with Munich.

Hep Monatzeder, the vice
mayor, is leading the delegation. He was lasthere in 1996 when he signed the
twinning agreement.

He said: "We will be
visiting some places that we have helped. Wewould like to see how Harare is
now," Monatzeder said he had not had time toform an impression of the city
since he had just arrived.

Told that the
council was battling to get authority from thegovernment to borrow money for
capital projects because it wasoverwhelmingly dominated by MDC councillors,
Monatzeder said: "You have tohave the opposition, otherwise there is no
democracy."

The relationship between
Harare and Munich had become strained since2001

PRESIDENT Mugabe has in the past
indicated to his South Africancounterpart, Thabo Mbeki, that he was willing
to step down as consensus isforming among regional and international leaders
that he has become aliability and a threat to regional
stability.

Bheki Khumalo, Mbeki's
spokesman, yesterday said the South AfricanPresident said this when he was
reacting in Pretoria to media reports thatMugabe was ready to step
down.

According to the South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Mbekisaid Mugabe had said that before, in
his presence. Khumalo said: "The President was
reacting to media reports and henever went beyond
that."

However, Khumalo said that he was
unaware of any personalcommunication in which Mbeki had asked Mugabe to
relinquish power.

"If a President wants to
step down, the decision is his and his alone," Khumalo said. "Besides,
if the two had communicated at a personallevel on that one, then I don't
think that will be done through the
Press."

SABC reported that Mbeki said he
was sure that Zanu PF had beenengaged in the process of renewing its
leadership. "We want to wait for themto finish that process before we can
take matters up," Mbeki was quoted
assaying. John Nkomo, Zanu PF's national
chairman, and Nathan Shamuyarira, theruling party's spokesman, could not be
reached for comment yesterday.

In November
2000, when some commercial farmers were murdered
and some driven off their properties under the
controversial land reformprogramme, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
reportedly urged Mugabe tostep down to avoid more
bloodshed.

Last month, Obasanjo made a
similar statement during an exclusiveinterview with The Sunday Times of
London, saying that it would be wise forMugabe, 79, to step down as leader
of Zimbabwe.

"It's entirely up to him, but
obviously he knows he has to work out asuccession," Obasanjo, 66,
said. "I don't need to tell him, but if I say
I am thinking about mysuccession, that's an indication that I think he
should think of his. "In my part of the world,
there are many ways you can tell a man to goto
hell."

In an interview on ZBC/TV last week
to mark 23 years of Zimbabwe'sindependence, Mugabe hinted that he was
willing to step down after the landredistribution exercise had been
completed.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Speaker
of Parliament's name is being toutedaround as Mugabe's choice of successor,
but this has not gone down well withthe ruling party's
stalwarts.

Mnangagwa is Zanu PF's
secretary for administration. He was appointedby Mugabe following his defeat
in the June 2000 parliamentary election bythe MDC's Blessing Chebundo in
Kwekwe.

HARARE High School in Mbare has
been forced to temporarily closeduring the current school holidays by the
Harare City Council and Ministryof Health and Child Welfare officials over
health concerns.

The closure of the school
has resulted in students failing to takevacation studies. Vacation lessons
are meant to prepare students for theZimbabwe Schools Examination Council
examinations at the end of the year.

Toilets at the school were said to be the most affected as they hadbeen out
of order since last February.

One
concerned parent said: "Although we appreciate that theauthorities are doing
something about the bad state of the sanitaryfacilities at the school, we
are worried that they took such a long time toobserve that they were putting
the lives of the students at risk.

"If it
was not for the Harare City Council and the Ministry of Healthand Child
Welfare, nothing would have been done by the school authorities,"she
said.

The deputy headmaster of Harare High
School refused to comment on theissue.

The ZCTU has again demanded that
the government "immediately" reversethe fuel price increases it enforced two
weeks ago or face anothernation-wide job
stayaway.

The umbrella labour body staged
a three-day job stayaway last weekthat saw business largely grind to a halt
after the government ignored itsfirst demand for an immediate reversal of
the increases.

Wellington Chibhebhe, the
ZCTU secretary-general, yesterday said thegeneral council, the union's
supreme policy-making body, met on Saturday andresolved to write to the
government, through the Ministry of Public Service,Labour and Social
Welfare, presenting its demand.

Chibhebhe
said the ZCTU was demanding the immediate suspension of theincreases because
the government itself had imposed the increases "withimmediate
effect".

He said: "This problem is of an
immediate nature. We are giving it thesame haste with which the government
announced the increases. Failure toreverse the increases will result in
workers taking action."

He declined to say
exactly when the ZCTU would call for another jobstayaway if the government
disregarded its demand.

Chibhebhe said:
"History has shown us that it is not prudent to givedates, but action is
definitely on the agenda."

He described as
"unfortunate" the statement by Amos Midzi, theMinister of Energy and Power
Development, that the ZCTU could "keep ondreaming" that the increases would
be reversed.

Midzi was quoted in The
Standard newspaper on Sunday as saying: "TheZCTU can keep on dreaming. We
cannot reduce the prices of fuel."

Chibhebhe said: "When people are suffering you cannot afford to bearrogant.
When you get a minister saying that, it shows how out of touch thegovernment
is with the people. It also proves how careless he is."

THE idea that a
president responsible for so much bloodshed,corruption and the destruction
of the economy should be forgiven for all hisblunders in exchange for
quietly stepping down from power is immoral
andunacceptable.

Not only that; it is
an insult to the people of Zimbabwe whoserelatives died and whose previously
much-admired living standards were theenvy of many African
countries.

Today, according to the
official statistics, 80 percent of them areliving below the poverty datum
line. Others may blame the Western countries,the IMF and the World Bank, the
drought, Cyclone Eline, Cyclone Japhet orthe MDC and even
NAGG.

But the people know that it is all
President Mugabe's fault. He too isaware of this. The recent decline in his
own popularity among the people, aswell as the plummeting popularity of the
party he leads, testify to a wishby the majority of the people that he quits
before it is too late.

He cannot be
unaware that it is this nationwide disenchantment withhis leadership which
has forced his party to use terror and violence to cowthe people into
supporting him.

Mugabe ought to be man
enough to face the music. He made his bed andhe must lie on it. If it turns
out to be a bed of nails, so be it. He cannotdemand that the people put the
softest mattress to eliminate the pain whichhe must feel for turning their
independence into one long nightmare ofdeath, terror, hunger, disease and
poverty.

Clearly, he is aware of the
people's acute sense of betrayal. Theyreposed so much faith in him,
believing him to have their interests at heartfrom beginning to end. Today,
23 years down the line, he has almostabdicated his responsibilities to them,
minding only about his own personalsurvival. His wife has been scandalously
shopping in South Africa while backhome people scrounge for food even in the
dustbins outside State House.

Constitutionally, his six-year term of office ought to end in 2008,but not
even he - at 79 today - would relish the prospect of continuing aday longer.
Logically, he ought to resign, and let the chips fall where theymay. If it
is demanded of him by the people that he account for his waywardbehaviour
during his presidency, so be it.

He could
continue until his term officially ends, but by that time,according to many
estimates, Zimbabwe will be in such desperate straits, itmay have
degenerated beyond a basket case.

A change
is what the country needs, a change not only from Mugabe'srule, but from
Zanu PF rule. What Mugabe's friends are trying to concoct isa change of
presidency, but not a change of government. They would like toperpetuate
Zanu PF rule, even at the end of the nightmare of the Mugabe
era.

This could be achieved
constitutionally, but at what price? Zanu PFhas become synonymous with
murder, rape, terror and electoral fraud - andwith Mugabe
himself.

Relations with the rest of the
world, so vital for a return to asemblance of normality, would not improve,
in the end. For many of Mugabe'sfriends, the end of Zanu PF rule would be
the end of the Zimbabwean dream.

But for
many Zimbabweans, as amply demonstrated during two stayawaysin which most of
them took part voluntarily, it could be the beginning of abright
future.

An election may be problematical
constitutionally, but thealternative - a period of continuing Zanu PF rule
with its attendant vices -must be too ghastly to contemplate for many
peace-loving citizens longingfor change.

To all the citizens of Zimbabwe,
I would like to say the following:This is an important time for us, it marks
the beginning of the realisationof Zimbabwe's unity. Monetary, economic and
social union make theunification process
irreversible.

What the MDC is doing today
and planning to do tomorrow constitutes adecisive step towards our goal of
achieving Zimbabwe's unity in freedomwithin a peaceful African
order.

In a peaceful revolution in the
last three years when our party wasformed, the people in the country broke
the chains of the unjust regimethrough their love of
freedom.

We share their pride and
happiness in view of the success of thisrevolution and are indebted to the
hundreds of thousands who brought aboutthis change by dint of their courage
in adversity. To our former MP,Learnmore Jongwe, rest in peace. He worked
hard and he wanted to live infreedom, human dignity. He fought for the truth
and against falsehoods,against oppression by a regime that had been forced
upon us by others.

We must never forget,
efface from our memories or play down theirfate. The crimes committed by
Zimbabweans against Zimbabweans even after the2000 election that they lost
and they said they won, and presidentialelection last year are an extortion
to us all.

They must never be repeated.
What our party is witnessing is the birthof a free and united Zimbabwe
before the eyes of the world.

This
historic time of Zimbabwe establishing a monetary, economic andsocial union
also heralds a new phase of African history and is the firstdecisive step on
the way to unity.

For the people in
Zimbabwe it will make unity tangible in many areasof their day-to-day lives.
I am aware that the road to unity will be adifficult one, but in the end our
efforts will be rewarded. Achieving theunity and freedom of Zimbabwe is a
tremendous task in which everyone
mustco-operate.

We, Zimbabweans, must
stand together and shape our common future withconfidence. Let us never lose
sight of the fact that for 23 years we wereforcibly prevented from living
the kind of life we enjoyed here in
Zimbabwe.

I also have a request to make of
the people in Zimbabwe: Pleaseremember that the prosperity of Zimbabwe can
only be the result of much hardwork.

Millions of people contributed to it through many years ofindustriousness
and diligence. They did not get anything for nothing.National unity has
drawn closer and it is now for us to hasten
it.

Let us seize this opportunity, let us
do our duty and I appeal toZimbabweans to create a united nation for the
coming years. Let's gotogether into a happier future for all Zimbabweans.
Today is a milestonealong this road.

After 22 years which have brought people so much suffering, we arebeing
offered a unique opportunity to achieve in free self-determination theunity
and freedom of Zimbabwe and to serve the peace of the world in aunited
Africa. This is the mandate of the basic law and this is what ourneighbours
expect from us.

Our country is well
equipped to embark on a new promising chapter inits history. We can put the
clock forward, but this does not make time movefaster and the ability to
wait while events take their course a preconditionof practical politics. The
reverse is also true: those who want to stop thewheel of history are in
danger of forever chasing a lost opportunity and, aswe all know, those who
came too late are punished by history.

The
people there, too, realise that after all the suffering inflictedupon them
they will have to roll up their sleeves. Monetary, economic andsocial union
is a promise which they can take us up on. They must seize theopportunity
and get down to it.

They can leave the
nooks and crannies where they could just about ekeout a livelihood under the
socialist dictatorship and expose themselves tothe fresh breeze of a free
market economy. We shall also help in coping withthe transitional
problems.

However, jobs, prosperity and
social security will, in long term, haveto be gained by dint of the people's
own efforts.

LENDING and parallel market rates
are expected to skyrocket soon onthe back of excessive demand for cash by
the National Oil Company ofZimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority.

The beleaguered Noczim is on
the market seeking to raise $60 billionneeded to import fuel, while the
power utility, Zesa is under pressure toraise foreign currency to off-set
foreign debts in excess of US$143 million(Z$7 865
million).

Analysts said the insatiable
appetite for resources would pushinterest rates from last week's levels of
60 to 65 percent to above 70percent. Parallel market rates may go beyond the
$1 400/$1 500 levelsagainst the United States dollar to $1 600/$1 800 by the
end of next month.

The official exchange
rate to the greenback is pegged at $824. Theprice of money and the exchange
rate is a function of demand. It goes upwhen demand improves and softens
when the appetite subsides.

Zesa and
Noczim are competing with the private sector, which requiresthe greenback to
import spare parts and raw materials. An increase in ratesadds to costs of
production and often manifests itself through priceincreases and high
inflation.

Gibson Maunganidze, a local
investment analyst said: "Interest ratesare going to go up, as Noczim and
Zesa turn to the market to finance theirmandates. If interest rates move up,
parallel market rates will also move upbecause it means the real value of
the Zimbabwe dollar has gone down."

Bulawayo chartered accountant, Eric Bloch said it would be difficultfor Zesa
and Noczim to raise money because of prevailing
shortages.

Bloch said: "Its going to be a
pointless exercise because there is noforeign currency. At the same time
they cannot raise funds outside Zimbabwebecause of the country's bad credit
rating. The only ones to consideradvancing credit could be those bent on
buying Zimbabwean assets, such asthe Libyans and other Arab
countries."

Institutional investors can
raise the Zimbabwe dollar componentrequired by Noczim provided there is a
government guarantee.

Bloch said the
government, which owns the two parastatals, shouldimprove economic viability
and restore the country's credit worthiness as amatter of
priority.

Noczim and Zesa are struggling
to meet the country's energyrequirements due to the shortage of foreign
currency caused by poor exportperformance and donor
fatigue.

A number of desperate measures
taken by government to improve foreignexchange generation and curb leakages
within the system have fallen flat.

In
fact, the situation seems to have worsened after the banning ofbureaux de
change and the tightening of features on Customs Declaration 1forms and
other documents used in the tourism and hunting
sectors.

"Quite often we have ideas," the
President said last week. The secretis out at last: our government often has
ideas. Unbelievable! I could neverhave believed it if it had not been said
by none other than the
Presidenthimself.

I have always
believed this government ran out of ideas the moment itwas sworn into office
more than 20 years ago. The President's revelationastounded me. I did not
know whether to be happy or sad or both or
which.

"We think them out," the President
continued, "but the ideas continueto remain ideas." Oh dear, and whose fault
is it? The President told invitedguests at the official opening of the
Scientific and Industrial Research andDevelopment Centre that "feasibility
studies are conducted - pre-feasibilitystudies, post-feasibility studies -
and they take time to shape out".

Why do
Zanu PF's ideas take more than 20 years to shape
out?

Anyway, the President was ambiguously
attacking State officials thathe appointed himself. But exonerating himself
by saying he has vision andlots of ideas but the underlings that he appoints
himself are letting himdown, would be dishonest and we would be employing
the ambiguity andevasiveness used by Polonius in reference to his powerful
superior Hamlet: "Your noble son is mad, mad
call I it, for to define true madness,what isn't but to be nothing else but
mad?"

Polonius quickly added: "But let
that go."

I will be brief; I cannot let
that go because the President must firehis under-performing underlings with
as much ease as he hires them. It isnot his money that pays them. It is the
people's money. It does not do thenation any good to attack them in public
but still retain them even thoughthey are confirmed
non-performers.

The President must be
aware that when the team that he picks fails, itis he who gets the blame. I
find it difficult to believe this country has agovernment, a police force,
an army and (surprise! surprise!) a President.It is the duty of the
President to identify where things are going wrong andto find the solutions
using his so-called war Cabinet. Otherwise, of whatuse would they be to
us?

The failure of this government,
particularly this unimaginativeCabinet, has now prompted the call: "The
whole gang must go!"

We now associate the
President with things that are
anti-people.

The parent who, on seeing the
President on television hitting thepodium with his fist, tells his child to
"switch off that TV!"

The unspoken
reaction to futility being: what the man is saying hasnothing to do with us
and our problems; the unemployed newspaper reader on apark bench who, on
seeing a large photograph of Mugabe smiling at him on thefront page, flips
to the next page totally convinced that whatever pleasesthe President can't
possibly be within reach or is not good for him; the warveteran, proud owner
of a welding shack at a growth point sitting under theeaves by the door
re-reading last year's copy of the People's Voice whilewaiting for
electricity for the second day running: load-shedding! And theproud, hopeful
medical student and her sister nurse rushing to work minussanitary pads.
Condoms everywhere but no sanitary pads! And oh, look here! Amother, baby
strapped on her back, but now both hungry, thirsty and hotafter five hours
standing in a queue and still hopeful that by the time shereaches the point
of sale there still will be a bottle of cooking oil leftfor
her.

No matter how we look at the problems
bedevilling the nation, italways leads back to the President. That the
country is unconscious is notin dispute. I sit here, my dear compatriots,
and wonder like so many of youwhat role the Executive is
playing.

The Constitution seems to have
been written on toilet paper. Nobody,not the police, the army, the ruling
party or the Executive pays anyattention to the Constitution. So help me,
God!

It does appear as if the government
has declared war on the citizensof this
country.

As a President, a husband and a
leader, wasn't he nauseated by themangled posterior of 60-year-old Isobel
Gardner?

As a teacher, a father and a
liberator, didn't he feel revulsion atthe dental carnage on 27-year-old
Itayi Tinarwo? One old woman batteredalmost to death by his soldiers; one
young man with a hope for a productivefuture brutalised, almost murdered by
suspected supporters of the President's
party.

Fortunately, the President had
something to say about this. "Those whopromote and unleash the ensuing
violence and terrorism must be punishedunder our laws," he warned the
victims.

Others have died. The victim is
blamed.

I salute my
President.

The danger we are facing now is
that we have a government and a leaderwho, in order to survive politically,
have to kill, brutalise, main andtorture the
citizens.

My fear is that we are reaching
that dangerous point where peoplecontemplate self-defence. (Zanu PF would
cherish the excuse.)

But when citizens
collectively start to defend themselves againsttheir own government, it is
more than anarchy. It is organised crime. And inthis case, crime will
pay.

I long and pray for a kinder, gentler
President. I look over to myPresident as I recall Yevtushenko's poetic words
"not people die, but worldsdie in
them."

We are now people without a
country, only a state of mind. I toorecognise the uniqueness of each life
lived. But "because death isinescapable, man's legacy is his philosophy, how
he lived his life, how heformed that
world."

Oh, Mr Mugabe!! My appeal to the
President is that he employs furiousconcentration and makes a serious effort
to intervene.

Of serious concern is not
who is perpetrating the violence but thatthere is violence in our midst.
With all the state apparatus at hisdisposal, the president can stem the
violence.

The fact that he is not stopping
the violence when he is able to maybe the reason why he is inviting so much
criticism. But what if the mayhemis to Zanu PF's
advantage?

The late ANC strongman' Harry
Gwala said once that it is verydifficult to organise people in the absence
of violence. It need not be thecase.

My appeal to my fellow citizens is one of re-dedication. We are
midwaythrough a crocodile infested and flooded river with water up to our
armpits.Whether we return to the bank or continue so as to reach the
opposite one,we are in equal danger. But if we return we will need to start
all overagain so we should soldier on and get it over with. This has been
going onfor too long; lives continue to be lost. We can stop this violence
with orwithout the help of the President if we dedicate ourselves to
it.

The heart of the matter is that
patriots must come forward now andhelp to stop this fanatical, half-crazed
ordeal of state imposed violence.Out there are patriots who fought to
liberate this country. Theysimulteneously protected the people they were
trying to liberate. Obviously,the job was not complete. We call upon them
one more time. The patriots mustonce again come in and protect the people
while they liberate themselves.

But
dedication is essential. What Plato calls "the healing of ourunwisdom" must
start now. We can neither be wise nor builders and we willnot know comfort
or security if we accept that violence lives side by sidewith us. The
culture of violence is alien to us. It must be stopped by us,the
victims.

I wonder who the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation think they arefooling by parading
ill-informed and unintelligent individuals on televisionin the guise of
surveys.

What the ZBC ought to know is
that all right-thinking and progressiveZimbabweans walk away from their TV
sets once they see propaganda clowns,since they do not expect any sensible
contributions from those
biasedindividuals.

We all know that
the ZBC interviews people who feel they have achievedsomething merely by
appearing on TV, regardless of the fact that thesepeople do so much to the
disgust of most legitimate viewers, who regardthese stooges as brainless
wannabes.

Just watch how most of them
stand grinning at the camera as if theyare sweepstakes winners being
presented with a prize!

I have met many
people and their opinion is that ZBC cannot foolanyone any
more.

I have also noticed that the
Southern Africa Development Community(Sadc) mission is coming at a time when
Zanu PF is at the height
ofdesperation.

How else could one
explain the circus that was paraded on TV as thegroup behind the atrocities
being committed all over Zimbabwe daily, forsome time
now.

What I can easily make out is that
this is a well-orchestrated move tomislead the Sadc mission. When I first
saw the clowning on TV I thought thatZanu PF had finally come up with some
damning piece of propaganda this
timearound.

People were not hoodwinked
by the ZBC; they have learnt and perfectedthe art of resisting propaganda to
the fullest. Zanu PF is bound to fall,come hell, come
thunder.

And to the MDC I want to say: we
are still waiting for the list ofcompanies that are draining our blood. May
I also suggest that we need tohave a list of those individuals who are
advocating for the prolongedsuffering of the
people.

I also would like to commend moves
to compile lists of those who areperpetrating atrocities on behalf of the
President and Grace Mugabe. Keep onadding names to this list - we will need
it for future justice.

The ZDF and the
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) are well into the gameof terrorising the
people of Zimbabwe since 2000. Orders to terrorise thepeople are coming
right from the top. It has even been said that a retiredbrigadier is behind
these nefarious activities.

Is Mutsekwa
not aware that there is no more a professional ZDF and ZRPto talk about in
Zimbabwe? There is only Zanu PF, ZDF and ZRP dominating thescene
now.

The more Mutsekwa exonerates them,
the more the masses are brutalisedunder the cover that he (Mutsekwa) is
giving them. The MDC are making thesepeople more brutal by covering up for
them.

Most of Mutsekwa's utterances which
exonerate the ZDF remind me of onebullyboy at school in the
1960s.

As with bullies, most young boys -
myself included - were at the mercyof this bully. One day information
reached me that the bully would descendon me over a very trivial
issue.

I tried to be very friendly to the
bully to the extent that I couldprepare some cucumbers by removing the
prickles. I gave him to eat. He wouldhappily accept them and
ate.

To my surprise, he kept his promise
to beat me regardless of myfriendly gesture to him. And as sure as he had
promised, I did get athorough beating that day after
school.

This short story is true. I liken
Mutsekwa to the young boy/s and theZDF as the
bully.

So, I want to say to Mutsekwa, no
matter how much you want to befriendthe ZDF, their atrocities against
Zimbabweans are increasing.

"Green
Bombers" in army uniforms confirms the ZDF's involvement in theatrocities.
The wearing of these uniforms and transportation of these GreenBombers has
the tacit approval of the ZDF.

Therefore,
the assertion by Zimbabweans that the ZDF and ZRP arebrutalising them holds
water. If Mutsekwa continues to exonerate the ZDF,Zimbabweans will be left
with no option but to accuse Mutsekwa of connivingwith the ZDF in
brutalising the nation.

I guess he will
also exonerate them over the raid on MP Fidelis Mhashu's
home.

Mutsekwa is also jeopardising our
chances of getting outside militaryintervention like what took place in Iraq
against the dictator SaddamHussein, like the intervention that took place in
Uganda by TanzanianDefence Forces against dictator Idi
Amin.

His constant exoneration of the ZDF
over what is happening is veryembarrassing and nauseates
Zimbabweans.

It lessens the will of those
forces who may want to intervene andrescue
us.

Lastly, I say: Wake up, Mutsekwa!
Change your attitude. Let the worldknow the officially-sanctioned brutality
the ZDF and ZRP are unleashing onZimbabweans - all for the purpose of
keeping the dictator Robert Mugabe
inpower.

Mugabe's wife outrages
countrymenBy Geoff HillSPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON
TIMES

JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwean exiles
living in South Africa have reactedangrily to the news that President Robert
Mugabe's wife, Grace, was stayingat a $700-a-day, five-star Caesar's Hotel
and Casino at a time of widespreadpoverty and suffering back
home. "It is obscene," Jay Sibanda, leader of an
exile lobby group, told TheWashington Times Saturday. "Millions of people
are starving because of herhusband's dictatorship and this woman is spending
[$700] a night to stay ata luxury hotel." A
recent United Nations report suggests that two-thirds of Zimbabwe's12
million people live on less than a dollar a day. Mr. Mugabe, 79, and
his38-year-old second wife, known as "Comrade Grace," have become the
subjectof wide criticism for their lavish
lifestyle. While consumers line up for hours to buy
meager supplies of corn meal,sugar and soap, critics contend that groceries
for the presidential palaceare flown in from
London. A local radio journalist called the Caesar's
switchboard late last weekand was put through to Mrs. Mugabe, who identified
herself then slammed downthe phone after being told she was on the
air. Mr. Sibanda said his group had tried to mount a
peaceful protestoutside the casino over the weekend but were chased away by
hotel security. "More than two million Zimbabweans
have fled to this country," he said."At home we are being tortured, starved
and beaten as part of Mugabe'sdesperate bid to stay in power and we should
at least be able to highlightthat in a peaceful
demonstration." A U.S. firm, Park Place
Entertainment, which also owns Caesar's Palacein Las Vegas, has a
significant ownership stake in the hotel. A
spokesperson for Caesar's said it was company policy not to divulgeguest
information. Mr. Mugabe was re-elected last year in
a campaign marred by violenceand intimidation. Most Western governments
including the United Statesrefused to recognize the
result. Human rights organizations estimate
that as many as 70,000 Zimbabweanshave been tortured or assaulted by
government agents in the past year andthat 60 percent of the population
requires food aid in the wake of Mr.Mugabe's coercive land-reform program
that has resulted in all but 300 ofthe country's 4,000 white commercial
farmers driven off their land. Last August, Mrs.
Mugabe took over a large farm in the Mazowe districtnear the capital,
Harare, even though the government had earmarked it forlandless
blacks. In the past year, shortages at home have
forced Zimbabwe's elite to dotheir shopping in South Africa, where the press
has made a habit of exposingtheir sprees.
In January, Mr. Mugabe's information minister, Jonathan Moyo, waspictured in
the Johannesburg Sunday Times packing three four-wheel-drivevehicles with
groceries and luxury goods bound for Harare. A week earlier,Mr. Moyo had
made a statement denying that there were shortages in Zimbabweand accusing
Western journalists of "publishing false reports" about
hiscountry. Mr. Mugabe met his first wife, Sally
Hefron, when he was teaching inGhana in 1961. When Sally Mugabe died in
1995, it was revealed that herhusband had fathered two children with his
secretary, a divorcee named GraceMarufu. The couple were married in
1996.

LINDA MOTTRAM:
Zimbabwe's Government has confirmed that PresidentRobert Mugabe is
considering retirement, after he completes the land reformprogram that's
been so violent and politically volatile - his finalassignment is how the
President's spokesman has described it.

Africa Correspondent Sally Sara reports.

SALLY SARA: After more than twenty years in power President RobertMugabe is
hinting that his political career may be coming to an end, but thetiming is
unclear.

Mr Mugabe says once his land
reform program is settled, people canretire. He's yet to directly refer to
himself, but presidential spokesmanGeorge Charamba says the message is
clear. He says land reform will be MrMugabe's grand
finale.

GEORGE CHARAMBA: Well the comments
are very straightforward. Heindicated that he is working on what he
considers to be his final assignmentfor Zimbabwe, namely the delivery of
land to the Zimbabwean people. It's aprocess which is still underway and
hasn't been quite concluded and it isalso the completion of that assignment
that he will then consider
possibleretirement.

MDC Spokesman Paul Nyathi says
Mr Mugabe may be looking for a softexit, a way to escape responsibility for
his actions during his time inoffice.

PAUL NYATHI: You can't turn around and use that as a bargaining chip.You
can't turn around and say well for me to stop abusing you, for me to getout
of this scene, please guarantee me immunity. That is not the way to go,it is
wrong.

SALLY SARA: The MDC says President
Mugabe should be held accountable,but many incidents, including the murder
of thousands of civilians by rulingparty troops in the Matabeleland Province
in the early 1980s, are yet to
beresolved.

If there's a risk of
prosecution or retribution, Mr Mugabe may bereluctant to let go of
power.

If he decides to stay in office,
the President will be 84 years of ageby the time he finishes his current six
year term. That's a long time towait for those who have been at the centre
of his wrath.

The Commercial Farmers Union
says it is unclear how long it will takefor Mr Mugabe to finish his land
reform program.

HENDRIK OLIVIER: Well we would like
this process to come to aconclusion now. We need to get focussed on
production issues, butunfortunately this is not taking
place.

SALLY SARA: The waiting and
watching have begun.

Mr Mugabe's political
career has spanned more than forty years. Hebegan his working life as a
teacher, before spending a decade in jail forhis role in the fight against
colonialism.

He is a calculating
performer. Mr Mugabe has six university degreesand more political experience
than most of his counterparts in Africa, butthe man who came into power
promising to deliver democracy, has parted wayswith many of his
people.

As Robert Mugabe talks of
retirement, his opponents are alreadyworking to throw him out of
office.

Diamond-producing or trading countries that have agreed to theinternational
scheme to stop trade in diamonds from conflict areas but arenot complying
face suspension, a summit heard
yesterday.

The warning came as
representatives from 70 countries, the industryand non-governmental
organisations met in Johannesburg for the first day ofa summit aimed at
tightening and enforcing the rules of the so-calledKimberley
Process.

The meeting should "consider
dissuasive and proportional penalties fornon-compliance by participants",
Abbey Chikane, Kimberley Process chairman,said yesterday. The "tolerance
period" for countries that were not ready tocomply expires tomorrow and
should not be renewed, he said. Suspension,which would prevent a country
from legitimately exporting diamonds anddiscourage traders from buying, is
one of the penalties under consideration.

The Kimberley Process has until now worked on voluntary
participation,self-examination and peer review, rather than imposing
penalties orestablishing an independent monitoring process, as
non-governmentalorganisations demand.

That may change. "Until now we have established the principles, wehave
looked at the wood. But now it is time to look at the trees. Soon we'llbe
examining every single leaf," Mr Chikane
said.

South Africa, which chairs the
process, is determined the summitshould be constructive and not shy from
discussing penalties. "We have todecide what to do about countries that have
experienced an unlawful changeof government," said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka,
minister for mines.

Liberia,
which is clamouring to join the process, will not be allowedto until the UN
Security Council has lifted the diamond trade
embargo.

The Johannesburg summit is the
first meeting of the group since theKimberley Process was formally endorsed
in Switzerland last November byalmost all the world's diamond-producing and
trading countries.

According to the
certification scheme, which was officially launchedworld-wide on January 1,
diamonds can only be traded with a certificate oforigin from the producing
country, which guarantees it is
conflict-free.

In the US, President George
W. Bush signed the Clean Diamond Trade Actinto law last Friday, thereby
allowing the US to implement the accord.

According to the industry only 2 per cent of the world's diamondsoriginate
from conflict zones, but some NGOs estimate it is 20 per
cent.